matryoshka

As a female founder I hope these types of thoughts are promoted but the resulting actions are not obvious. I wouldn't want to be a female founder accepted into ycombinator and then have myself or others wonder if I am part of some kind of quota. I really want my acceptance to be based on my merits.

Russian mentality still longs for strong leadership. Young people do try to break away but the majority of Russian population want to have a powerful and dominant head of state. It's in our psyche. Thanks to our our history and our brooding character.

Great post. It was fascinating to see how your copyrighting evolved. A/B testing is big these days and if done properly can make a significant difference in conversion rates.

Thanks for pointing to woorank.com. Great tool! I've already made a few adjustments to my site based on its recommendations. Excellent guide overall.

I bet reporters love HARO as they can send their requests in and just filter the incoming responses.

Hacks are useful to get things done that are not important to you but need to get done. I do believe that "It’s the experience you should be seeking, not the short cut. It’s the voyage you should embrace, not the destination. It’s the path that elevates the soul, not the destination. It’s the process that ennobles, not the result." You want to feel excited for your journey, hacks be damned.

Russia never played by the rules. Russia wants to be feared and respected at all cost. Russia wants an image of a masculine and all knowing power. I love my motherland but like a parent it can be overbearing and wrong. It won't admit any wrong-doing. It goes back to the power ego.

To only follow the advice that's applicable to your current startup situation is limiting and keeps you in your comfort zone. I'd want to get advice that shows me where I can be if I follow it. Advice needs to lead not to lock you in.

I gather facts and listen to my gut feeling. If my gut feeling tells me something is off, it overrides the facts and I go with my gut feeling.

Leo nails what you need to do day in and day out to become successful in blogging: Publish today. Get it out there. Be authentic. Be extremely useful. Don’t be spammy, don’t have ads, don’t have popups, don’t push people to share or subscribe. Just put the reader’s interest first, help him as much as humanly possible, be sincere about it.

Do market research by checking out potential competition and find what niche you can specialize in (narrower is way better than broad and all encompassing). Go out and talk to your prospective customers. Get some kind of commitment from those who are interested.

You can say the same about artisans who have spent their lives perfecting their craft but don't know how to get the word out about their creations. So many labor in obscurity and their pieces are stunning.

I am a big fan of Social Media Examiner. They know how to make people keep coming back with content that's relevant and from a lot of quality guest bloggers. I especially appreciate their aggregation articles where they either provide a summary of helpful online tools or best practices. Efficient use of my time.

I believe in specialization and niche markets. Also I'd rather start with one thing and do it well. I'd give a new idea all my effort for at least 3 months before making a call if it's worth sticking with, pivoting or completely abandoning it.

This is the way to do it: “Start with a small, intense fire.” Those first customers will make or break you.

Keeping a hand-written journal requires discipline and strong connection to your inner self. You have to be willing to have a reality check and admit when you are wrong.

LinkedIn has a few features that irate existing users. Letting other LinkedIn users anonymously check your profile comes to mind. Some feel it's like virtual stalking. My stance is that this a is a free platform and you can voice your concerns and issues with it but at the end LinkedIn has a final say on what goes. The same goes for Facebook and its privacy issues.

Always be on the lookout for emerging channels so you can test them out to see if they are a good fit for your business. Sitting on the sideline will cost you the first mover advantage. Even better if other businesses in your niche don't use some channels. You can dominate them then.

Just looked up all your references. Thank you for pointing me in the right direction.

I identify the most with community clusters. You get to connect with like-minded people and developer meaningful connections that can be carried over into other channels including meeting in person.

I would re-phrase it a bit: good things happen to generous people who are willing to give before taking.

I agree. Japan would be perfect for what my company offers.

Thank you for all the suggestions - all good ones. I have been reaching out to those who are comfortable talking about death (e.g. The Order of the Good Death). It has been empowering to be in the forefront of bringing the topic of death into life and making people embrace it. It is easier to talk about death with like-minded people.

Nice! That would make a great screen saver :).

That's the way to own it! I identify with this life philosophy and own it without feeling guilty that I haven't mastered one specific domain. I do work on learning more and stay current in my areas of interest.

'One sentence' is way better than an elevator pitch with today's short attention span. My one sentence at the moment is: my company, artisurn.com, helps people embrace what is inevitable with grace and lets them pick a memorial urn or keepsake that 'talks' to them.

Understand what triggered the events happening in Ukraine. Being born and raised in Russia and having lots of friend from Ukraine, I want to stress that what is happening in Kiev is unprecedented for Ukraine. They reached a breaking point and all that's unfolding will set the course for Ukraine for years and generations to come. I hope it will have a happy ending.

I agree that having a human who specializes in your kind of business accounting will make your life much easier down the road. That was one of first things I did when I started my business. Better be safe than sorry. You so don't want to mess with IRS.

This girl scout is brilliant! I see bright future in front of her.

As a small business owner, I've been getting to know my customers really well. My business is focused on handcrafted cremation urns and urn like pieces, which can be dreary (black humor definitely helps). I hand hold people through their purchases and know what questions they might ask. Being small works in my favor.