Blog Archive

Thursday, November 28, 2013

Nihil Obstat: Text Mining in WEKA Revisited: Selecting Attributes by Chaining Filters

Nihil Obstat: Text Mining in WEKA Revisited: Selecting Attributes by Chaining Filters: "Because of the reasons above, I will focus on feature selection. In consequence, I will deal with the AttributeSelection filter, leaving the PrincipalComponents one for another post. Let us start with the same text collection that I used in my previous post about chaining filters and classifiers in WEKA. It is an small subset of the SMS Spam Collection, made with the first 200 messag"

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Tuesday, November 26, 2013

俞敏洪:交友“宁为牛后” 做事“宁为鸡头”





11月22日,北京航空航天大学,俞敏洪在后台等候,准备给贫困大学生做励志演讲。

“要相信一个人是可以成长的,包括个性、胆量,甚至人格的改变,都可以历练出来。但是成长有一个重要前提,就是要在身上不断聚集那些使你成长的要素。”11月22日,在北京航空航天大学举行由教育部全国学生资助管理中心、中国银行和中国青年报社主办的“助学·筑梦·铸人”主题报告会上,俞敏洪讲述了自己从他们班少有的农村学生,成长为现在的新东方教育科技集团董事长兼首席执行官的历程。

近千名来自北航和周边学校的贫困生在学术交流厅内外倾听了演讲。

他坦言,自己在进入北大后,曾有过整整8年的自卑经历。入学时,他有浓重的南方口音,说话有一半同学都听不懂;英语口语很差,从入学时的A班掉到最差的C班;更不会像电影里那样,追上了全校最漂亮的女生,而是从来都没有勇气追过女生。

但他说,这段自卑经历,恰恰是对自己非常有好处的。无独有偶,他们C班出了6个亿万富翁。“因为经历了自卑,我最后回到了自信状态。如果回不到自信状态,这辈子我就是一个窝囊废。”

俞敏洪曾告诉电影《中国合伙人》中以自己为原型的角色扮演者黄晓明,“你怎么演,都没法把我的气质演出来,你要再过50年,才有可能演出真实的我。”他觉得,自己的个性要比电影中的人物丰满许多。“一个人的气质是在成长中累积和营造的,要不断地经历挫折,努力,才能在你的神态、笑容中,看到你对现实的理解、不屈服和大度。”

最重要的不是收获钱,而是收获成长

俞敏洪说,自己绝对不是天才,智商甚至比普通人还要低一点。他的才能完全是靠后天提高的,良好的心态也是逐渐养成的。

“智商一般的人往往也能够做出一些事情,那是因为他坚韧不拔。一个单词重复三遍、五遍、十遍,你还能记不住吗?最后也就慢慢地背出来了。”俞敏洪说,正是因为在背单词的过程中有心得,他后来写了许多词汇书,也带来了不菲的收入。而世上许多事情,和背单词是同一个道理。

他建议对现状不满的贫困生,一定要保持积极的心态。“中国的大环境中有很多不足的、令你不满的地方。但是,你是不是能够生活在阳光下,由你自己决定。”他说,要保持良好心态,首先要杜绝抱怨,在面对困难、挫折、失败的时候,用积极的心态去应对、解决、努力;第二,要站在别人的角度考虑问题;第三,要一心一意地考虑自己未来的成长。

“成长的意思就是你要多读书,多交朋友,要想办法冲上去,而且要做各种各样的事情。你先去做,最后发现你做的很好,这个岗位自然就是你的,然后你自然就有钱了。”俞敏洪举例说,年轻人千万不能眼高手低,在衡量工作的好坏时,不能什么都没有做,就先计较钱。“如果有机会让你来我身边当助理,两年里,你有机会结识的人,获得的资源,积累的经验,相当于获得一个MBA的学位。最重要的不是收获钱,而是收获成长。”

交友“宁为牛后”,做事“宁为鸡头”

俞敏洪以自己的成长经历总结说,在与人交往和学习的过程中,一定要“宁为牛后,不为鸡头”;而做事则要“宁为鸡头,不为牛后”。

“跟人交往的时候,一定要跟着牛人走,自然就会变成牛人之一。”俞敏洪说,在每个时期,他都和最优秀的人做朋友,因此也能一直从他们身上学到东西。上大学之前,他的交往圈就是农村的一帮小朋友,现在都已是白发苍苍的老头,天天打麻将,连城里都没有去过;考进北大后,朋友圈变成了北大的朋友圈,他就与徐小平、王强、包凡一这帮大学里最优秀的老师同学交上了朋友。事实证明,优秀的朋友是使自己终身受益的,在王强、徐小平等人回国以后,也给俞敏洪带来了西方现代化的管理理念,激发了他进一步学习的欲望。

从大学开始,俞敏洪便养成了一个习惯,在和同学、朋友聊天儿的时候,他几乎从不插话,只是聆听,给大家倒水添茶。

大学毕业以后,俞敏洪当上了北大的老师,他又发现,北大的其他老师大部分都比自己优秀。于是,他有了一批有名的思想家老师做朋友,和他们一起交流、教研,收获了很多东西。

如今,在中国企业家俱乐部里,重复着一模一样的模式,他依然很少发言。“我一直认为我在商业模式、创新思想方面是很落伍的人,现在,柳传志、王石、马云他们讲话时,我就听着,他们杯中没有水的时候,我给他们倒点水。跟他们交往,我能学到气度、眼光、格局。这些东西对我的事业发展来说,太重要了。”

但他辞职离开北大,也正是因为他在北大一直做着“牛后”,经过长时间的学习和积累,决心自己开创一番事业。“如果是‘牛后’,我在北大再牛,也只是北大的一小部分,绝不可能为北大的改革做出任何事情;但我要做的事情再小,只要你是头,就能发挥你的才能。”

和两种人不交朋友

“在大学期间有一件事情一定要做:用你真诚的姿态,让同学对你的人格认可。”俞敏洪说,在大学里,他虽然是贫困生,却特别大方:每个月靠22元钱的助学金生活,但总会省下三四元钱用来“讨好”同学,每隔两三个月,都要请同学吃一次饭。

“未来你会和同学发生的关系最多两种,一是你要用别人,二是别人要用你。”他说,高中同学、大学同学是最能变成自己的合作者的,因为这个阶段的交往不牵扯利益关系,因而这些朋友在将来最容易和你合作。

因此,正是在大学时期,俞敏洪完成了人际关系的积累。请人吃饭的过程不仅是为了和同学搞好关系,同时,他也在注意观察自己的同学:“我判断同学很简单,如果我请他吃过三顿饭,他没有请我吃过一顿饭,那就是一个小气鬼;如果有水果一个人吃,不分给别人吃的,我绝不和他交朋友。这样的人,没有钱的时候他会和你很好,一旦有利益可分的时候,他就会跟你抢利益。”俞敏洪说,一个有豪气的人,一个每次吃饭付钱都很开心的人,在力所能及的情况之下,就会为别人考虑和担当。因而,在新东方,他曾长期用请不请客吃饭这条标准,来暗地里考核自己的员工。

在新东方初创时期,俞敏洪曾揣着两万美元现金,到美国去说服当年的老师同学徐小平、王强、包凡一回国,和自己一起创业。为什么选中了这几个人?俞敏洪说,正是因为在大学时期,他们展示出了和别的同学不一样的人品和才华。“而他们愿意和我回来,也是因为我对朋友好,比较大方,所以觉得回来跟着我干,不会吃亏。”

俞敏洪说,自己在大学时期,总是对两种人敬而远之:一是小气的人,二是小人。“背后使坏、当面笑脸的人,是不能交往的。我始终相信这个世界上90%的人都是好人,跟这90%的好人打交道就行了,所以我身边充满了好人。好人多了以后,有的时候那些小人或者坏人反而不敢靠近你,因为他知道你的帮手太多了。”他说,正因为如此,所以自己在生活中一直能够保持阳光灿烂的心态。

大学每年读200本书

俞敏洪笑称:“在大学的时候,因为没有女生跟我谈恋爱,我就自己读书,反而慢慢让自己丰富起来。”

不久前,俞敏洪数了数,今年还只读了47本书,他有点急了:工作至今,他一直保持着每年至少60本书的阅读量,家里的每一面墙都做成了书架。

而在大学里,除去教科书,他平均每年都要阅读200本书。“我当时的目标就是成绩能毕业就行,但是书不能不读。”

“通过阅读、思考和人生历练,才能带来人生的厚度,人生的厚度决定着你未来做事业的高度。”俞敏洪强调,无论是理工科生还是文科生,千万不要只学习自己的专业,任何一个伟大的科学家,同时都是社会科学家和哲学家。“爱迪生、爱因斯坦、牛顿为什么会思考出科学理论?就是因为知识交叉带来的火花碰撞,最后产生新的知识结构。”

因此,俞敏洪告诫大学生,大学里两个最重要的要素,就是多读书、多交朋友。“我就是这么过来的,这两件事的重要性,我认为到现在都没有变。”

NOTE:
1)大学里两个最重要的要素,就是多读书、多交朋友
2)要相信一个人是可以成长的,包括个性、胆量,甚至人格的改变,都可以历练出来。但是成长有一个重要前提,就是要在身上不断聚集那些使你成长的要素
3)从大学开始,俞敏洪便养成了一个习惯,在和同学、朋友聊天儿的时候,他几乎从不插话,只是聆听,给大家倒水添茶

Logistic Regression Re-cap


What is Logistic Regression?

Logistic regression is a discriminative probabilistic classification model that operates over real-valued vector inputs. The dimensions of the input vectors being classified are called "features" and there is no restriction against them being correlated. Logistic regression is one of the best probabilistic classifiers, measured in both log loss and first-best classification accuracy across a number of tasks.

Binary logistic regression is equivalent to a one-layer, single-output neural network with a logistic activation function trained under log loss. This is sometimes called classification with a single neuron.


LingPipe: Logistic Regression Tutorial: "Feature Hacking
The joy and curse of feature-based classifiers like logistic regression is that they leave a lot of latitude for "tweaking". Just about anything can be brought in as a feature. With discriminitive models like logistic regression, the features do not even need to be independent."


How to Be Passionate

How to Be Passionate: 6 Steps (with Pictures) - wikiHow:
1 Express your passion.
2 Take care of yourself.
3 Find your heart.
4 Draw on your experiences in life.
5 Draw strength from the people you love.
6 Find out what you are good at.


http://tinybuddha.com/blog/12-tips-to-create-a-peaceful-passionate-life/
1. Remember that your thoughts and feelings are powerful.
2. Stop trying to be somebody and start opening up.
3. Create something new.
4. Be a model of truth and great possibilities.
5. Encounter your deeper story.
6. Experience your longing.
7. Recognize when and how you disappear from the present moment.
8. Know what brings you back.
9. Recognize that freedom is knowing what you love and letting it embrace you.
You already know enough. Stop looking for guidance and start formatting your life around experiencing 
what you love. Seek the experience and it will find you

10. Remember that your gift is how you handle your insecurities.
When you do what you love, you’ll act on instinct, without having to put too much thought into the knowledge you don’t yet have. But that thing you love to do—that’s not your only gift. Your other gift is how you handle your insecurities and feelings of inadequacy, when you do get caught up in your head. This is what shapes your life and sense of belonging.

11. Take intentional actions.
When you set intentions and act on them, you create a natural flow. Directing that flow is how you shape your reality

12. Consistently ask yourself: What is my relationship?
Everything is relationship to everything else. What is your relationship to yourself? You reality emanates from how you feel about yourself.

(You already know what it is; you just lack the courage to acknowledge it because you don’t think you’re good enough.)
What engenders a feeling of belonging and connection in your life? What stops the obsessive thought looping? Build reference points. That’s how you can always find your way back home.
NB6: It’s a big leap to go from dreaming to realizing. Take a step to act out your longing and experience its unfolding. If you let them, your feelings will lead the way.

Friday, November 22, 2013

Princeton's Keller Center: Princeton Entrepreneurs in China

Princeton's Keller Center: Princeton Entrepreneurs in China: "www.jinwankansha.com"

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孩子,我想当一个富豪的妈妈,这篇文章太值得我们借鉴了


2013-11-22 自由企业家
1992年,当我辗转回到以色列的时候,13岁的老大、12岁的老二和10岁的小女儿都还暂时留在中国 。
选择在那时回到以色列,完全是穷途末路。我的父亲是犹太人,二战时逃亡到上海,并在那时生下了我 。母亲在我很小的时候就抛弃了我们,12岁那年父亲去世,我就成了孤儿。长大后,我在上海铜厂当体力女工。结婚生下3个孩子后,丈夫离我们而去。
留在上海,满眼都是痛苦的回忆。正好那时中以正式建交 ,怀着一种逃避的心情,我成为了第一批回到以色列的犹太后裔。 初到以色列的日子,比想象中要困难许多。
我不懂得那里的语言(父亲教的古希伯莱语早已不在以色列使用),不懂得移民优惠政策(新移民可以有一笔安家费),在特拉维夫的大街上,我压根不知道怎样才能生存下去。
我从上海带去的积蓄只能维持3个月的生活开支, 我必须找到赚钱的办法,还要早日把孩子接到我身边 。我苦攻希伯莱语,学最基本的生活语言,然后我在路边摆了个投资最小的小摊卖春卷。以色列的官方货币是谢克尔,1谢克尔兑换人民币2块钱。
我的春卷小摊,每天能赚到十来个谢克尔。当我的小摊生意慢慢稳定下来以后,1993年5月,我把3个孩子都接到了以色列。孩子们初到以色列的时候,受到了不少邻居们的责难。
以前在国内时,我一直秉承再苦不能苦孩子的原则。到了以色列以后,我依旧做着我合格的中国式妈妈。我把孩子们送去学校读书,他们上学的时候我卖春卷。到了下午放学的时候,他们就来春卷摊,我停止营业,在小炉子上面给他们做馄饨下面条。
一天, 当3个孩子围坐在小炉子旁边等我做饭的时候,邻居过来训斥老大:“你已经是大孩子了,你应该学会去帮助你的母亲,而不是在这看着母亲忙碌,自己就像废物一样。”
邻居转过头训斥我:“不要把那种落后的中国式教育带到以色列来,别以为生了孩子你就是母亲…”邻居的话很伤人,我和老大都很难受, 回家后,我安慰老大:“没事的,妈妈能撑住,我喜欢照顾你们。”可是,老大说:“也许,她说得没错,妈妈,让我试着去照顾弟弟妹妹吧…”
第二天是祈祷日,孩子们中午就放学了。来到我的小摊,老大坐在我旁边,学着我的样子把打好的春卷皮包上馅,卷成成品,然后入油锅去炸。他的动作一开始有些笨拙, 但是后来越来越熟练…
老大身上的转变大得连我自己都想不到,除了帮我做春卷,他还提出由他们带做好的春卷去学校卖给同学。
每天早上,他和弟弟妹妹每人带20个春卷去学校,放学回来的时候,会把每人10谢克尔的卖春卷收入全部上交给我。我觉得很心酸 ,让他们小小年龄就要担起生活的担子。可是,他们没有表现出我想象的那种委屈,他们说他们慢慢开始喜欢这种赚钱的感觉了。
邻居太太经常来跟我聊天 ,告诉我正规的犹太家庭应该如何运作,应该如何教育孩子。犹太人从来不觉得赚钱是一个需要到达一定年龄才能开展的活动,与中国的“教育从娃娃抓起” 一样,他们始终觉得“赚钱从娃娃抓起”才是最好的教育方式。
邻居太太告诉我,在犹太家庭孩子们没有免费的食物和照顾,任何东西都是有价格的,每个孩子都必须学会赚钱,才能获得自己需要的一切。我觉得这样的教育手段比较残酷,不是那么容易接受。但是,孩子们在学校也被灌输着这样的理念。 他们比我更容易地接受了这种犹太法则。于是,我决定改变以前在国内对孩子们的习惯,试着培养他们成为犹太人。
首先,我们家确立了有偿生活机制,家中所有东西都不再无偿使用,包括我这个母亲提供的餐食和服务。在家吃一顿饭,需要支付给我100雅戈洛的成本费用,洗一次衣服需要支付50雅戈洛…在收取费用的同时,我给予他们赚钱的机会,我以每个春卷30雅戈洛的价钱批发给他们,他们带到学校后,可以自行加价出售,利润部分可自由支配。
第一天下午回来以后,我得知3个孩子卖春卷的方式竟然截然不同:老三比较老实,按照老价钱,50雅戈洛一个零售,赚到了400雅戈洛;老二则使用了批发手段,40雅戈洛一个直接将春卷全部卖给了学校餐厅,尽管只有200雅戈洛的利润,但他告诉我餐厅同意每天让他送100个春卷去;老大的方式比较出人意料,他在学校举办了一个“带你走进中国”的讲座,由他主讲中国国内的见闻,讲座的噱头就在于可以免费品尝美味的中国春卷,但是需要买入场券,每人10雅戈洛,每个春卷都被他精心分割成了10份,他接待了200个听众,入场券收入2000雅戈洛,在上缴学校500雅戈洛的场地费用后,利润1500雅戈洛。
除了老三的方法在我意料以内之外,老大和老二的经营方式都超出了我的想象。我真的没有料到,只在短短数日之 间,以前只会黏着我撒娇的孩子就摇身一变成了精明的小犹太商人。
他们的学业并没有因此受到任何影响,为了琢磨出更多更新颖的赚钱方法,他们很努力地去学习和思考,老师授课的内容很对他们胃口,因为没有奉献精神之类的说教。老师问过他们这样一个问题:“当遭到异教徒的袭击,必须逃命的时候,你会带着什么逃走?”对于这个问题,回答“钱”或“宝石”是不对的。 这是因为,无论是钱还是宝石,一旦被夺走就会完全失去。正确的答案是“教育”。与财物不同,只要人活着,教育就不可能被别人夺走。他们很赞赏老师说的这么一句话:“如果你想将来成为富翁,就学好眼前的东西,它们将来都会大有用处的…”
当老大在法律课上学习了移民法后,他告诉我像我们这样的家庭应该可以去移民局领取安家费。我半信半疑去了,结果一下领回了6000谢克尔的安家费,这对我们一家来说可是一笔了不得的财产。
然后,老大跟我说因为他给我提供了信息,我应该付给他10%的酬金。我犹豫很久,终于决定把600谢克尔这笔大钱给他,他拿到钱后,给我和弟弟妹妹都买了很漂亮的礼物,剩下的钱,他说他会拿去变成更多的钱。老大用这笔酬金邮购了一批在国内很便宜的文具,然后去学校进行售卖,利润再投入继续进货,1年以后,他户头上 的金额就已经超过了2000谢克尔。
尽管老大很会赚钱,但在实际上,老二比他更能领会犹太法则的精髓,犹太人共同的一点是,从事那些不用投入本钱的行业,从事其它人不做的、无须花钱和投资的工作。当老大在利用国内的资源赚钱的时候,老二也在如此做着,不过,他赚的是不需要成本的精神领域的利润。老二以他14岁的年龄和文笔 ,竟然在报纸上开设了自己的专栏,专门介绍上海的风土人情,每周交稿2篇,每篇1000字,每月8000雅戈洛。
老三是女孩子,因为比较矜持,也没有展露出赚钱方面的才能,但是我在她身上欣慰地看到了犹太人对生活的乐观和优雅。她学会了煮茶和做点心, 每天晚上,她会精心煮一壶红茶,配上她自创的口味不同的点心,一家人围坐下来边吃边聊天,老三的点心有点中西合璧的味道,两个哥哥都很喜欢。不过,这些点心不是免费的,两个哥哥支付的点心费用, 刨开成本和每天需要交给我的费用外,老三也能活得很滋润。
当我们家的资金越来越丰富的时候,我们一家四口合资开办了我们家的中国餐厅。我占40%股份、老 大30%、老二20%、老三10%。
当我们家的餐厅越来越有名的时候,我也引起了很多关注。当我获得拉宾的接见后,我成了以色列的名人。此时的我已经完全掌握了希伯莱文,再加上我的母语中文,我最后被以色列国家钻石公司邀请担任驻中国首席代表。
当我回国任职的时候,孩子们也跟随我一起回到了中国,有了中国孩子作为比较对象之后,我方才发觉我的孩子成长得比我想象的还要优秀。在回国之前,每个孩子都去购买了很多以色列产的物品。回国之后,老师来找我了,她说我的孩子在校园推销来自以色列的商品,从饰品到民族服装甚至到子弹壳无所不有,她建议我好好管教一下孩子。
我告诉她,我无权干涉我孩子的行为,这是他们赚取他们学费的方式。因为,我已经不再负责他们的所有学习费用。老师的眼睛顿时瞪得大大的,她理解不了像我这样月薪 5000美元的母亲竟然会不给孩子学费。我请她品尝一下女儿做的在家售价2块钱一个的小点心,微笑着告诉她:“这是我的孩子在以色列生活几年以来,学会犹太法则的产物,我相信他们将来都会成为优秀的人才…”
随后的高考中,老大进入了旅游高等专科学校,他说他要成为专业的旅游人才,然后去以色列开办自己的旅游公司,垄断经营中国游;第二年,老二考入上海外国语学院,他说他的理想是当一个作家 ,在不需任何投资和奉献的前提下赚取利润;老三说她会去学中国厨艺,当一个顶级的糕点师,然后去开办全以色列最好的糕点店…
回国以后,我发觉很多中国父母都活在一种左右摇摆的矛盾心态中,既希望自己的孩子将来能成为大富翁,却又似乎害怕孩子过早地沉迷于金钱。就好像,既希望孩子将来能有个幸福的家庭,却又害怕孩子现在会早恋一样。
这是一种典型的叶公好龙,犹太人用敲击金币的声音迎接孩子的出世,赚钱是他们人生的终极目标,至于教育、学习都是为了达到这个目标必须经历的过程。而中国的父母,哪怕心中憧憬无比,但却从来不肯挑明这个话题。这句话很难说吗?
其实只是简单的一句:“孩子,我想当一个富豪的妈妈…”
人生的每个抉择都像是一个赌局,输赢都是自己的。不管你压的赌注大与小,选择了就没有反悔的机会。
输不起的人,往往也赢不了! 这才是做父母之道。

Business Idea Competition

BAYLOR BUSINESS NEW VENTURE COMPETITION (11/23/2013)  http://www.baylor.edu/business/newventurecompetition/

NVC  (02/03/2014)  
 http://nvc.uoregon.edu/intent-to-compete/

RBPC (2/21/2014)
rbpc.rice.edu

UT Horizon Fund  (11/11/2013)
http://www.uthorizons.com/process/

Dear University of Texas System Colleague,

The UT Horizon Fund, the venture capital fund for the University of Texas System, is hosting its 3rd Student Investment Competition on FridayApril 4th, 2014 in Austin, Texas. CompeteUT is a venture creation and investment competition to encourage innovation and entrepreneurship to student and medical resident and trainees throughout all 15 University of Texas System Institutions.  It’s open to all UT undergraduates, graduates, PhD candidates, post-docs, medical residents, medical interns, and trainees. Sixteen finalist teams will compete for a $100,000 investment award among other prizes. Please disseminate this information across your UT campus.
The first mandatory instructional webinar will be Monday, November 11th, 2013 from 4-6pm detailing the guidelines for the competition. Faculty, staff, and students are encouraged to attend. There will be time at the end of the webinar to answer any questions you have left.  Detailed instructions on how to attend the webinar will be sent out in the next couple days. For more information, please feel free to visit our website www.uthorizons.com. If you have any further questions, please don’t hesitate to contact JD Weinstein at JWeinstein@utsystem.edu or Jeet Vijay at JVijay@utsystem.edu


Wednesday, November 20, 2013

Building The Brand Of A Rich Dad - Forbes

Building The Brand Of A Rich Dad - Forbes:
Q: What are some pitfalls that other like-brands should be aware of in terms of building a brand and protecting it?

Kiyosaki: Your brand must serve first. It must be based on a higher mission. The Rich Dad mission is to elevate the financial well being of humanity. It’s not about making money. If you stay focused on serving, the money will come. Protecting the brand has been a lesson in humility. I tried ignoring impostors, but in the end I had to take my own advice get help. And, again, I was inspired by my rich dad’s advice: “If you’re the smartest guy on your team…your team’s in trouble.” I had to go outside myself, my own knowledge and skills and experience and find a partner who shared my passion and brought the needed skills and experience to protect the brand. Sometimes the hardest thing to do is to trust your team. It’s a lesson I’ve had to relearn quite a few times.

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(Images) 43 Of The Most Popular Motivation Picture Quotes

(Images) 43 Of The Most Popular Motivation Picture Quotes:

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Tuesday, November 19, 2013

Rice Business Plan Competition

The Rice Business Plan Competition - $1,000,000+ in cash prizes and investment funding

For more information:  rbpc.rice.edu

Sunday, November 17, 2013

THE 8 REASONS GOOD PEOPLE (WITH GREAT PLANS) STILL FAIL

source:      http://sidsavara.com


REASON #1  THEY DON'T HAVE A PLAN (OR DON'T KNOW WHAT THEY WANT) 

Question: What do most people do when they try to change their lives?
Answer: They make New Year's Resolutions.
Question: And what percentage of people fail at their New Year's Resolutions?
Answer: 92%. Yes, 92% fail. That's terrible.
The number one reason? They may think they have a plan, but they really don't.
"Get in shape" is not a plan.
It's a wish. It's a desire. But there is nothing to act on.


REASON #2 LOW PRODUCTIVITY  (OR ZERO PRODUCTIVITY) 

Successful people take action and execute at a high level of productivity.
People who fail - don't.
And yes, they procrastinate.
They spend time on low value activities, and don't spend time on what really matters in their life.


REASON #3 BEING INDECISIVE (AND PUTTING OFF DECISIONS)
“Indecision is often worse than wrong action.” – Henry Ford
You don't need me to tell you what being indecisive is ….
But what you do need to know is most people will rationalize away indecision and pretend it doesn't happen to them.
There is a fine line however between taking the time to make the right decision – and spending so long in indecision that the opportunity passes you by.

REASON #4  LACK OF ENERGY 
If you're sleep deprived, emotionally stressed out, and lack energy you will feel it in every area of your life - and frankly, you will never perform at the level you are capable of.
It's not just physical energy – it's also emotional and mental energy.
The bottom line is this – you can't be productive unless you've got energy to dedicate to do the things you need to do.

REASON #5 LACK OF MOTIVATION OR FOLLOW THROUGH
You need to have both motivation and follow through in order to be successful.

REASON #6 NOT SETTING (AND STICKING TO) PRIORITIES
Yes, you have the capacity to accomplish anything you desire in your life.
BUT you can't do everything right now.
Setting and sticking to priorities is how you must manage your life so you can really get the most important things done right now.

REASON #7 TRYING TO DO EVERYTHING YOURSELF
So I started to outsource – which is a fancy word for saying I hired some help, and it cost much less than I thought it would. It's like buying time

REASON #8 THEY NEVER CHANGE
The truth is, not changing is the only reason people actually fail.

Thursday, November 7, 2013

Overcome Procrastination and Uncertainty – Take Action Today | The Action Solution

Overcome Procrastination and Uncertainty – Take Action Today | The Action Solution:

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20 Customer Service Statistics for 2011 | Customer1

20 Customer Service Statistics for 2011 | Customer1: "US contact centers spend $12.4 billion annually verifying the caller is who they say they are. 59% of calls require identity verification, but only 3% of these are handled entirely through automated processes.
Source: ContactBabel, The US Contact Center Decision-Makers’ Guide"

'via Blog this'

Saturday, November 2, 2013

Tony Robbins | Profile on TED.com

Tony Robbins | Profile on TED.com:
http://www.ted.com/talks/tony_robbins_asks_why_we_do_what_we_do.html
'via Blog this'

How to Be Charismatic


http://www.wikihow.com/Be-Charismatic


8 Keys to Instant Charisma


5 Qualities of Charismatic People. How Many Do You Have?



What is Charisma? How to be Charismatic

http://www.skillsyouneed.com/ips/charisma.html
How to Be More Charismatic: 10 Tips | Inc.com:
http://www.inc.com/jeff-haden/10-habits-of-remarkably-charismatic-people.html
'via Blog this'

8 Keys to Instant Charisma

8 Keys to Instant Charisma: "
“Everytime you smile at someone, it is an action of love,
a gift to that person, a beautiful thing.”
~ Mother Teresa"

'via Blog this'

How to pitch to a VC by David S. Rose

David S. Rose: How to pitch to a VC | Video on TED.com:
Source: http://www.ted.com/talks/david_s_rose_on_pitching_to_vcs.html
============
Abstract:
If you have only 2 min to spend on this, just read the abstract is fine.

NOTE: 1:
Answer: YOU

NOTE 2:
The entire purpose of a VC pitch is to convince them that you are the entrepreneur in whom
they are going to invest their money and make a lot of money in return.Now, how do you do this? You actually have to convey about 10 different characteristics while you're standing up there for the 15 miniature presentation

Integrity
Passion
Experience
Knowledge
Skill
Leadership
Commitment
Vision
Realism
Coachability



NOTE 3
How to make a great presentation
5)Always use presenter mode  (Adobe Ovation; Apple Keynote)
4)Always use a remote control
3)Hands out are not your presentation
2)Don't read your speech
1)Never, ever, look at the screen

NOTE 4:
Quotes:
1)  Right, so here you want --entrepreneurs by definition are people who are leaving something else, starting a new world over here, creating and putting their lifeblood into this kind of thing. You've got to convey passion. 

2)  You're going to keep my money alive and you're going to make more money out of it.  So I want to know that you're committed to be there to the very end.

3) I don't want another "me too" product. I want somebody who knows, who can change the world out there. But on top of that, I also need realism.

NOTE 5:  (Core parts of presentation)
Company Logo
Business Overview
Management Team
Market
Product
Business Model
Strategic Relationship
Competition
Barriers to Entry
Financial Overview
Use of Proceeds
Capital & Valuation


NOTE 6:

============

Now, how do you do this? You can't just walk up and say, you know, "Hi, I'm a really good guy, and a good girl, and you should really invest in me." Right? So, in the course of your VC pitch, you have a very few minutes, and most VC pitches -- most angel pitches are about 15 minutes, most VC pitches should be less than half an hour. People's attention span after 18 minutes begins to drop off, tests have shown. So in that 18 minutes, or 10 minutes, or five minutes, you have to convey a whole bunch of different characteristics. You actually have to convey about 10 different characteristics while you're standing up there.What's the single most important thing you've got to convey? What? (Audience: Integrity.)DSR: Boy, oh boy, oh boy! And that's a straight line we got right over there. And I didn't even prompt him. You're right, integrity. Because that's the key thing. I would much rather invest in somebody -- you know, take a chance on somebody -- who I know is straight than somebody where there's any possible question of, you know, who are they looking out for,and what's going on. So the most important thing is integrity.
And then you have to have the skills that it takes to get a company going. And those skills include everything from technical skills, if it's a technology business, to marketing, and sales, and management, and so on. But, you know, not everybody has all these skills.There are very few people who have the full set of skills that it takes to run a company. So what else do you require? Well, leadership. You've got to be able to convince us that you either have developed a team that has all those factors in it, or else you can. And you have the charisma and the management style and the ability to get people to follow your lead, to inspire them, to motivate them to be part of your team. All right, then, having done all that,what else do I want to know as a VC? I want to know that you have commitment. That you are going to be here to the end. I want you to say, or I want you to convey, that you are going to die if you have to, with your very last breath, with your fingernails scratching as they drag you out. You're going to keep my money alive and you're going to make more money out of it. So I don't want somebody who's going to cut and run at the first opportunity. Because bad things happen. There's never been an angel- or a venture-funded company where bad things didn't happen. So I want to know that you're committed to be there to the very end.
You've also got to let me know that there are touchstones. You want to tie in to the rest of the world out there. So, for example, if you reference companies I've heard of, or basic items in your business, I want to know about them. Things that I can relate to: validators, or anything that tells me somebody else has approved this, or there's outside validation. It can be sales; it can be you've got an award for something; it can be, people have done it before;it can be your beta tests are going great. Whatever. I want to know validation, that you're telling me not just what you're telling me, but that somebody else -- or something else out there -- says this makes sense. And then, because I'm looking for the upside here, I've got to have believable upside. And that's two parts. It's got to be upside, and it's got to be believable. The upside means that if you're telling me that you're going to be out there, five years out, making a million dollars a year -- hmm. That's not really upside. Telling me you're going to be out there making a billion dollars a year -- that's not believable. So it's got to be both sides.
On the other hand, there are a lot of things that drive me down, take the emotional level down, and you've got to recover from those. And those, for example, are anything you tell me that I know is not true. "We have no competition. There's nobody else who's ever made a widget like this." Odds are I probably know somebody who has made a widget. And the minute you tell me that -- boom! You know, I discount half of what you're saying from then on. Anything that makes me think. Anything that I don't understand, where I have to make the leap myself, in my own head, is going to stop the flow of the presentation. So, you've got to take me through like a sixth grader -- dub, dub, dub, dub, dub -- but without patronizing me. And it's a very tricky path to do it. But if you can do it, it works really, really well. Anything that's inconsistent within the concept of your thing. If you tell me sales of X, Y or Z are 10 million dollars, and the next slide, or five slides later, they're five million dollars. Well, one may have been gross sales, one may have been net sales, but I want to know that all the numbers make sense together. And then finally, anything that's an error, or a typo, or a stupid mistake, or a line that's in the wrong place. That shows me that -- if you can't even do a presentation, how the heck can you run a company? So this all feeds in together.
So, you know, our great -- these wonderful long bullet points, a whole list of things, you know -- good! No, they're not. The long bullet points are bad. What's good? Short, short bullet points. But you know what? Even better than short bullet points are no bullet points.Just give me the headline over here. And you know what? How many bullet points or headlines does Steve Jobs use? Basically none. What do you do? Best of all, images. Just a simple image. I looked at the image -- a picture's worth a thousand words. You look at the image and you see that, and you drop the whole thing. And then, you come back to me.And you're focused on me and why I'm such a great guy, and why you want to invest in me.And why this whole thing makes sense. So with that said, we only have a very, very short time.
If I know what your competition does, how are you going to prevent your competition from eating your lunch over here? And then all this ties into the financial overview. And you have to have -- you can't do a VC pitch without giving me your financials. I want to know three and, you know, a year or two back, or as long as you've been in existence. And I want to know three or four or five years forward. Five is a bit much. Probably four is rational. And I want to know how that business model that you showed me on a product basis is going to translate into a company model. And, you know, how many widgets are you going to sell?You're making X amount per widget. I want to know what the driver is. We're going to have 1,000 customers this year, and 10,000 next year. And our revenues are going to go this, that and the other thing. And so that gives me the whole picture for the next several years into which I'm investing. And I want to know how the money you're going to get from me is going to help you get there. You're going to open an offshore plant in China, you're going to spend it all on sales and marketing, you're going to go to Tahiti, or whatever out there.
But then comes the ask. This is where you tell me how much you actually want to get.You're looking for 5 million -- at what kind of valuation? Two million at 100,000. What's the money in so far? Who invested? I hope you invested personally. Because I'm following on. If you can't invest in your own thing, why should I invest in it? So I like to know if you have friends and family, or angel investors in there, or you've had more VCs before. What's the capital structure up until this point? And then finally, having done all that, you've now told me the whole thing, so now you've got to bring it back to that conclusion. This is that rocket going up. So hopefully everything has been positive, positive, positive, more positive. And everything, everything you say clicks with me, and it all makes sense. And I'm thinking, "This is really, really great."
And then you take me back to your logo. Just your logo on the screen. And I look at the logo -- okay, good. Now I come back to you. Nothing else to look at, right? And now, you've got to wrap it up and tie it up here. You've got to give me the final, you know -- boom! -- the final pitch that's going to send me into space. Now, in the process of doing this over here,how do you remember the sequences and doers? You've noticed here that I'm not looking at the screen, right? The screen is, actually, in this room, is set up so it's in front of me. So, I couldn't even see if I wanted to. So now, how do I know what's going on here? Well, I've got a laptop in front of me, but you're looking at me. And you're looking at this. What do you think I'm looking at? You think that I'm looking at that? No, I'm looking actually at a special version of PowerPoint over here, which shows me the slides ahead, the slides behind, my notes from here, so I can see what's going on. PowerPoint has this built into every copy of PowerPoint that's shipped. If you use Apple's Keynote, it's got an even better version in Keynote. And then there's another program, called Ovation, you can get from Adobe, that they just bought last summer. Which actually helps you run the whole timers, and it lets you figure out what's going on.


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