How Startups Can Develop Sweet Returns

King Digital Entertainment Plc, the maker of the addicting Candy Crush Saga game, took the company public this week. As long time stock market analysts know, any IPO is unpredictable. Countless millionaires have been created when they took their small businesses public. Yet, even Facebook disappointed when it first went public, and Zynga, which created the wildly played Farmville, quickly lost much of its initial valuation.

Unfortunately, the market soured on the Candy Crush maker, as its shares fell more than 15% from its initial price of $22.50. One of the problems is that many investors viewed King Digital as a one-trick pony with only one hit game in its stable. Obviously, there were concerns about future growth.

So what are some of the keys to success if you want to build your company and make an initial public offering (IPO)?

1) Have a Great Name

What’s in a name? Everything.

One thing Candy Crush had going for it was a catchy name. It’s easy to remember and reminds people of something that they like. The name of your company is essential for your business plan, which sets the road map for future success and helps raise startup capital.

It is important to register that company name as an LLC, which can be done by a service provider such as The Company Corporation. Just as important, make sure to see if the domain name is available and do not stall in registering it before cyber squatters take it out from underneath you.

2) Don’t Be Afraid of Competition

Despite its competitiveness, online gaming is a very attractive industry for investors. If you enter into a marketplace where there are few players, investors often take that as a signal that there is little growth in the industry.

3) Write a Professional Business Plan and Continually Update Your Targets

Many entrepreneurs write their business plans in order to secure financing and then once they get their money, don’t look at the plan again. This is unfortunate and shortsighted. A well written business plans sets goals and targets. Once an entrepreneur hits certain milestones, it is then time to set new ones.

Your business plan should be a living document guiding your company down the roadway to success. It’s easy to get philosophical about how rich you some day hope to be.

However, it is more important to look a few quarters and a year or two ahead and reach incremental achievements that will build your company for the long term. Continuously make new offerings to give people a reason to keep coming back.

4) Make a Great Product and Deliver Good Service

It is critical to offer both a great product and great customer service. After all, what good is it to serve great food if it arrives at the table cold or if the waiter is snippy?

Helen Ling, the owner of Enchantments, a gift shop specializing in hand-crafted gifts by American artisans in Fanwood, NJ, believes that spending time with customers is important:

“I like to find out who they are buying gifts for, what they like and then show them possibilities. Business owners cannot forget the human touch.”

A classic dilemma for the founder of any company is when to let go. In the early stages, an entrepreneur tends to do all the work himself or herself. This cannot go on forever, if you intend to grow your business. Encourage them to be responsible and let them make mistakes.

By giving a sense of empowerment to younger workers, you will build loyalty. They will commit to your company rather than think of it as just a job (while potentially looking to make a jump elsewhere). Rewarding with stock options is a good motivator.

An IPO, the common form of equity financing in which stocks are issued to investors, can provide an infusion of capital to help companies grow from small firms to bigger entities. Doing the groundwork - choosing a name, establishing a website, delivering a quality product, building a strong team, and having a constantly updated business plan - will make a difference.

If done right, the rewards are sweet. If not, the market could sour on your offering.

Wall Street Photo via Shutterstock

OKCupid, Mozilla Get Embroiled Over New CEO’s Personal Beliefs

What do you do when your newly promoted CEO’s personal beliefs become an issue?

That’s what Mozilla is dealing with now. Newly promoted Mozilla CEO Brendan Eich, a co-founder of the non-profit open source software organization, has caused division in the company.

The Verge reports that Eich has become the target of scorn from fellow Mozilla employees over his alleged donation of $1,000 to a campaign for Proposition 8, a 2008 California ballot measure banning same-sex marriage.

Criticisms of Eich’s promotion have reverberated both inside and outside the company.

Check this tweet from Kat Braybrooke, who works at Mozilla as a curation and co-design lead:

Such outspokenness is apparently encouraged at Mozilla.

In another big protest against Eich’s promotion outside the organization, dating website OKCupid is trying to organize a boycott of Mozilla’s Firefox browser by visitors.

Those clicking to OKCupid while in Firefox are taken to a message expressing opposition to Eich as CEO of Mozilla. In the message, the site’s management explains:

“…we’ve devoted the last ten years to bringing peopleâ€"all peopleâ€"together. If individuals like Mr. Eich had their way, then roughly 8% of the relationships we’ve worked so hard to bring about would be illegal. Equality for gay relationships is personally important to many of us here at OkCupid. But it’s professionally important to the entire company. OkCupid is for creating love. Those who seek to deny love and instead enforce misery, shame, and frustration are our enemies, and we wish them nothing but failure.”

The message also encourages visitors to choose another browser when visiting OKCupid.

Last week, in anticipation of some of the controversy that has arisen over his promotion, Eich tried to strike a conciliatory tone. In his official blog, he promised to work for equality and inclusion in the company, stating:

“I am deeply honored and humbled by the CEO role. I’m also grateful for the messages of support. At the same time, I know there are concerns about my commitment to fostering equality and welcome for LGBT individuals at Mozilla. I hope to lay those concerns to rest, first by making a set of commitments to you. More important, I want to lay them to rest by actions and results.”

And adding:

“I know some will be skeptical about this, and that words alone will not change anything. I can only ask for your support to have the time to ‘show, not tell;’ and in the meantime express my sorrow at having caused pain.”

But Eich’s apparent contribution to a cause many find objectionable is not the only reason for opposition to his leadership.

Last week three Mozilla directors, former company CEOs Gary Kovacs and John Lilly, and CEO of online education resource site Shmoop, Ellen Siminoff, resigned over the appointment â€" a full half of the board.

The opposition had to do more with a desire for new blood from outside the organization than with Eich’s political views, reports the Wall Street Journal.

Kovacs, Lilly and Siminoff apparently would have preferred a candidate with more experience in mobile, an area many believe Mozilla must focus upon in the immediate future.

Without getting into a debate about Eich’s apparent political beliefs, it’s easy to see the problems they have caused. And certainly no business wants or needs such drama. But delving into the personal beliefs and preferences of every possible candidate for a position at your company would create a very complicated vetting process.

Also, Eich’s own issue revolves in part around a donation he made six years ago. So the question of how deeply you can or will be permitted to probe into a candidate’s past is another consideration.

Mozilla Photo via Shutterstock

One Business Publicly Leaves Facebook; Facebook Doesn’t Care

As the famous saying goes, “There’s no such thing as a free lunch.” And food delivery startup Eat24 has found this out the hard way. Eat24 publicly announced it was leaving Facebook recently. It’s mainly over changes to Facebook’s Newsfeed algorithm which controls the number of non-paid posts brands can share with their followers. But the social networking site’s response was basically, “Get used to it. This is how it’s going to be from now on.”

In a post on the official Eat24 blog, the company addressed Facebook like a girlfriend or boyfriend being gently dumped, explaining:

“When we first met, you made us feel special. We’d tell you a super funny joke about Sriracha and you’d tell all our friends and then everyone would laugh together. But now? Now you want us to give you money if we want to talk to our friends. Now when we show you a photo of a taco wrapped with bacon, you’re all like “PROMOTE THIS POST! GET MORE FRIENDS!” instead of just liking us for who we are.”

After years of free marketing, businesses like Eat24 are finding Facebook is starting to restrict the number of followers who can see a brand’s updates in their Newsfeeds. More and more, the only way to guarantee fans will see your Newsfeed these days is for them to visit your Facebook page. You can also pay extra for Facebook’s sponsored posts. Obviously Facebook prefers door number two.

This pattern of behavior is more than mere perception on the part of disgruntled Facebook marketers. A recent study by Ogilvy & Mather found that companies’ Facebook posts went from reaching 12 percent of their followers in October to just 6 percent in February. Valleywag reports Facebook is planning to make sure no more than 1 to 2 percent of a brand’s posts reach followers eventually.

Facebook has not stayed silent in the Eat24 controversy. In a comment on Eat24′s Facebook page following the post, one of Facebook’s PR representatives Brandon McCormick responded:

“Hey Eat24, this is Brandon over at Facebook. I was bummed to read your letter. The world is so much more complicated than when we first met - it has changed. And we used to love your jokes about tacquitos and 420 but now they don’t seem so funny. There is some serious stuff happening in the world and one of my best friends just had a baby and another one just took the best photo of his homemade cupcakes and what we have come to realize is people care about those things more…So we are sorry that we have to part this way because we think we could still be friends - really we do. But we totally respect you if you need some space.”

It’s certainly easy to see why businesses are angry about Facebook persuading them to sign up for promotional pages and the lure of all that free marketing. Then years later, when the hard marketing work has been done, Facebook starts demanding money.

Valleywag points out that Facebook is a business and needs to turn a profit. But certainly big brands advertising regularly on Facebook must be taking care of some of that.

The real casualties are small businesses, with zero advertising budget, and who were creating loads of great content for Facebook absolutely free. Those businesses may need to find other ways to market their products and services in the future.

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CryptoDefense ransomware attacks 100 countries but has \'fatal flaw\'

April 01, 2014

The US and UK are the biggest targets of CryptoDefense, a major new ransomware campaign that has stolen over £20,000 in its first month - but which has one major design flaw.

CryptoDefense was first spotted on February 28 by researchers at Symantec, and by April 1 it had infected more than 20,000 computers in over 100 countries and succeeded in collecting more than $34,000 (approximately £20,440) in ransom payments. 

Around three-quarters of the computers infected were in the US, with the UK being the next biggest target with 1,556 victims, closely followed by Canada, Australia and Japan.

The malware demands $500 (£300) or €500 (£415) in bitcoins, to be paid within four days or the amount doubles. It is delivered by getting users to click on email attachments, which are sent from multiple locations and IP addresses. Because of this, and because payments are made through the anonymous Tor network, Symantec have not been able to identify the criminals behind it.

In a March 31 blog post, the company explains: “CryptoDefense is a sophisticated hybrid design incorporating a number of effective techniques previously used by other ransomcrypt malware authors. These include the use of Tor and Bitcoins for anonymity, public-key cryptography using strong RSA-2048 encryption, and the use of pressure tactics such as threats of increased costs if the ransom is not paid within a short period of time.” 

The campaign is so similar to the infamous CryptoLocker Trojan that Symantec initially thought they were one and the same - but the CryptoDefense criminals have made the mistake of leaving a copy of the ‘private key' needed to unlock it on the victim's computer, so that security professionals should be able to rescue any user within their organisation who is infected. 

With Cryptolocker, the private key was only ever found on servers controlled by the attacker, leaving the attackers in full control. 

Speaking to SCMagazineUK.com, Symantec threat analyst Alan Neville confirmed: “For network administrators, if they are hit with this threat, then identifying the private key on the machine and utilising that to decrypt the data will retrieve the data - and that is something they should be doing.” 

He said RSA-2048 private key decryption tools are available on the internet, adding: “Symantec are looking at the possibility of releasing a fix tool - it's probably something we'll be looking at in the future once we get a better kind of overview of the infection.”

Security expert Rorie Hood, a consultant with global information security firm MWR InfoSecurity, confirmed: “The Achilles heel of CryptoDefense is that it leaves the private key on the victim's machine. The result of this is that the victim can potentially retrieve their files without paying the ransom.”

Hood told SCMagazineUK.com: “While the average user may not be aware that they could retrieve the files themselves, vigilant security professionals will be able to decrypt the files that CryptoDefense has targeted.” 

He added: “Security professionals should take it as another opportunity to reinforce to users that they should take precautions when opening untrusted files.”

Hood said CryptoDefense has some way to go to match CryptoLocker, which by the end of 2013 had infected over 250,000 computers. The volume of infections might increase, he said, but with the opportunity for users to decrypt their own files, the percentage of infected users paying the ransom will likely drop.

Symantec's Neville added: “There is no kind of consistency in terms of targets, it seems to be spread out across different industries. The email itself is quite generic.”

CryptoDefense's authors go so far as to ‘help' users by providing instructions on how to download a Tor-ready browser and enter the unique Tor payment web page address. They also offer proof of infection through a ‘My screen' button on the payment page that shows a screenshot of the user's compromised desktop. 

Initially, they offered proof that decryption would work by allowing the victim to decrypt one file through a ‘Test decrypt' button - but Neville said this has been withdrawn since Symantec wrote its initial blog post.

He said: “They generally provide a lot of information in utilising this kind of decryption service because they want you to pay, so they want to make it very clear and explicit.”

GCHQ \'hacked German high-tech firms to spy on internet traffic\'

April 01, 2014

Revelations that UK intelligence agency GCHQ hacked into German satellite and communications companies are likely to accelerate the drive among businesses to tighten their control over how they store their sensitive data.

The latest case of government data snooping revealed by whistleblower Edward Snowden still has the power to shock. According to German publication Der Spiegel, a top-secret document in the Snowden archive shows GCHQ staff based in Bude, Cornwall infiltrated the networks of “several” German high-tech companies in order to spy on the internet traffic passing through their communications nodes, as well as monitor their employees and customers.

The undated 26-page document explicitly names three German firms - Stellar, Cetel and IABG - who Spiegel says were targeted for surveillance by listening stations in Bude operated jointly by GCHQ and America's NSA. It claims that the surveillance was carried out in order to spy on the internet traffic flowing through their high-speed nodes.

The document identifies the key customers of internet communications firm Stellar, and the names and email addresses of 16 employees, including CEO Christian Steffen, in order to “task” or monitor them. 

GCHQ also identified the servers and customers of German internet service provider Cetel, which has customers in Africa and the Middle East as well as one “northern European country that uses Cetel to connect its diplomatic outposts to the internet”.

Finally the document quoted by Spiegel - and so far not questioned by those named - shows GCHQ interested in German aerospace firm IABG, saying it may have already been targeted by the NSA in a case of what could be “industrial” rather than “political” espionage. IABG's customers include the German Defence Ministry and armed forces, and it was involved in projects like the Airbus A380 super jumbo jet and the Ariane European space rocket. 

In the wake of the revelations, Steve Durbin, global vice president of the Information Security Forum (ISF) industry body, says organisations should toughen up their information security controls.

He told SCMagazineUK.com via email: “Revelations that governments and their agencies are monitoring voice and data communications, and cracking encryption algorithms through ‘backdoors' has fundamentally undermined trust in cyberspace.”

As a result, Durbin said: “Organisations should reinforce basic information security arrangements. This means understanding what and where the most critical information assets are and their key vulnerabilities and the main threats against them. Standards and controls should be in place to mitigate the associated risks to these assets. Going up against a nation-state backed adversary is not a fair fight.”

Cloud storage

The revelations come shortly after a Lieberman Software survey showed that the rising level of government surveillance has already driven a third of organisations away from using cloud storage for their data.

Security expert Professor John Walker, a director of cyber security service firm ISX, agreed companies should be cautious but should not necessarily rule out cloud storage.

He told SCMagazineUK.com: “Security in the cloud can be strong, but only when it is provisioned with a wide understanding of the adverse conditions.” 

For example, he said, companies considering cloud-based solutions such as Office 365 should examine whether they are subject to legislation like the US Patriot Act “that may imply the right-to-access”.

Walker said the increased focus on information security in business was a good thing, advising: “Expect to be breached - and then work toward mitigating that expectation. And if you are deploying to cloud, then understand where your data is stored, what legislations are applicable, and ask the question about backing out and the complete data destruction of ‘your' assets.”

Durbin added that organisations should stay up-to-date with government activities in all jurisdictions in which they operate. He also suggested joining in threat intelligence-sharing forums, and “cultivating a culture of information risk to build information security capabilities within the organisation”.

GCHQ issued its standard statement in response to the Spiegel claims, saying it does not comment on intelligence-related issues but "all of its work is carried out in accordance with a strict legal and policy framework which ensures that our activities are authorised, necessary and proportionate".

Make Money for Your Business by Selling Your iPhone on eBay

Doesn’t it just drive you nuts when you hear about the mountains of junk going to landfills? Just like it may drive you crazy to see waste in your business.

Well, here’s a way to avoid adding waste to those landfills and having waste in your business and pick up a little extra cash in the process… so you can afford the latest new technology.

Just sell your iPhone on eBay - and sell your team’s old iPhones, too.

Did you know there’s a thriving market for old smartphones?  What’s old for you may be new for someone else.  Most small businesses make do with older technology - but yours doesn’t have to be one of them.

Best of all, when you sell those older models, you avoid being one more part of the landfill problem and you can get some cash for new smartphones for you and your team.

eBay makes it easy with its Simple Flow tool.  This tool lets you sell your iPhone or other smartphone on eBay quickly,  in just a few steps.  Easy peasy.

Here’s another tip â€" eBay says the service may give you a better price than trading in your iPhone.

This video gives a brief overview of how the new tool works:

It doesn’t have to be an iPhone, either.  There’s a market for other smartphone models, too. You might be surprised at how much they can bring.

To get started, you just select your phone brand, model and other details, mobile carrier, and the condition of your phone.  eBay gives you an idea of how much your phone can bring. Then you set your auction or buy-it-now price.

It really is fast and easy. Just sell your iPhone!

Image: eBay

Skype Competitor Viber, Bought by Rakuten, Will Become Face-to-Face eCommerce

The hot new thing in tech at the moment is mobile phone IM platforms. Facebook bought WhatsApp, and Skype is boasting 300 million users worldwide. But how can you monetize something like this? Hiroshi Mikitani, CEO and Founder of Japanese eCommerce giant Rakuten, has said he intends to turn the newly-acquired Viber into an eCommerce platform.

Mikitani paid $900 million for the Viber VOIP platform, which originally started as a competitor for Skype. But now, in Mikitani’s hands, it could become a competitor to Amazon instead. CNN has dubbed him the “Japanese Jeff Bezos“, due to Rakuten, which is Japan’s answer to Amazon.

Rakuten is the largest eCommerce platform in Japan, and offers everything from financing to shopping to online video. It also owns eBook reader Kobo. Reuters says that the Viber deal will more than double Rakuten’s userbase (300 million Viber users added to 200 million Rakuten users). Mikitani wants that to grow to 2 billion users.

According to Mikitani, Viber will eventually be used to sell eBooks, content and games. But he also alluded to the idea that Viber would become a marketplace for smaller sellers:

“Ecommerce is entering into what I call the ‘humanization stage.’ We’re not trying to become a huge vending machine, we’re trying to replicate face to face human transaction using the information technology.”

Recode points out that the whole concept of selling on a mobile chat platform is not new. It was widely considered to be why Microsoft bought Skype. But the fact it didn’t work is probably, Recode speculates, due to the fact that smartphones and tablets were not widely used back then. Times have obviously changed.

Viber offers apps for multiple platforms, from desktops to mobile platforms. So the technology infrastructure is there to push content to Viber’s users. But it will be interesting to see how Rakuten will push that content to the Viber userbase without alienating them in the process. And it will also be interesting to see if, instead of 2 billion users, Mikitani will start losing users due to his deal with Viber.

It’s probably safe to say that not every Viber user is thrilled at the prospect of their IM platform turning into another iOS App Store.

Image: Viber

Use These 20 Clever Words to Get Your Posts Read

The key to getting any business content read is its headline. Take a lesson from print media, articles with boring titles never get read. Here are 20 words to make sure that prospects and customers read what your company posts.

Numbers

More specifically, 3, 5, 7 or 10 are clear winners. Even numbers are less popular. Every reader wants a simple step by step list to accomplish their task.

Easier

They want your business to make it easier for them. They seek an easier way out or an easier way to solve their pain.

Rock Star

Most customers have a secret desire to be a famous rock star even if it is only in their immediate world. They will pay anyone to get there.

Capture

The best word to help customers get what they desire. It denotes things that are not easy to accomplish.

Killer

This is a powerful, yet controversial word. It can backfire if used in times of domestic violence.

Secrets

Every customer wants to learn the secret formula that not everyone else knows so they can benefit from it.

Perfection

Consumers are always striving for this ideal. They know they can’t really achieve it, but it does not stop them looking for help to get it.

Quick

Customers have no time. They want something fast (see “Easier”). This can be learned from the popular fast and prepared food craze.

Dangerous

Many customers lead fairly mundane lives and seek safety. They want to read about dangerous things they should avoid.

Clever

Customers hope to gain an advantage by being more clever than the next person. This is a quality that is almost universally admired.

Next Level

Every customer wants to go up, forward and to the next level and they will buy whatever can help them get there.

Guarantee

This helps mitigate the risk a customer is taking in their purchase. If the results are “guaranteed,” they feel more comfortable to act.

Boost

Customers want quick help to get higher. The “boost” is a popular and warm image from childhood.

Latest

Many customers are addicted to the “shiny object syndrome” and always want the latest and greatest. Companies feed that desire.

Mega

Americans always like things which are large. In fact, the bigger, the better. Many believe that a higher quantity means increased value.

Absolutely

A better way of saying “the best.” It leaves no room for doubt.

Ridiculous

Customers like to hear about “crazy,” so they can pass along these stories to friends and associates.

VIP

Every customer wants to be part of something that not all people can join. It makes them feel special.

Limited Time

Customers will act if they believe there is scarcity.

Worst

Unfortunately, people are more attracted to the negative, than the positive. This is the basis of the popularity of every reality TV show.

This article, provided by Nextiva, is republished through a content distribution agreement. The original can be found here.

Reading Photo via Shutterstock

Microsoft Word Users: Watch Out For RTF Files

If you get an RTF file from someone in your email, don’t open it. Don’t even glance.

That was part of a warning from Microsoft recently to users of supported versions of Microsoft Word. The company says that hackers have found a vulnerability in the system. Opening RTF documents (short for Rich Text Format) - even previewing them - could corrupt your computer, and make it part of a larger hacking network. Microsoft says so far it is aware only of targeted attacks on users of Microsoft Word 2010.

In an official post in Microsoft’s Security TechCenter, the company warned:

“The vulnerability could allow remote code execution if a user opens a specially crafted RTF file using an affected version of Microsoft Word, or previews or opens a specially crafted RTF email message in Microsoft Outlook while using Microsoft Word as the email viewer. An attacker who successfully exploited the vulnerability could gain the same user rights as the current user.”

Microsoft knows that attacks are occurring but has no permanent solution yet. The company says users should avoid opening RTF files until a fix for the vulnerability has been made available. There is a way you can get at least a limited view of these files if it’s absolutely necessary. Microsoft outlined a “workaround” on its Security Research and Defense Blog recently (image above).

But the company warns that the consequences of opening or even previewing corrupted RTF files could be dire. A Business Insider report warns opening a booby-trapped file could give hackers control of your computer. Once under a hacker’s control, the computer could be used to send out spam or even as part of an online fraud operation.