Instigator Blog

Failure sucks. Let’s not sugarcoat it. No one goes into business, pours their heart (and money) into a startup, and hopes it will fail. But failure is common enough. The statistics on it are immaterial (and I’m too lazy to look them up right now) — suffice it to say, lots of startups fail. And even more of them don’t live up to expectations (even if they survive to fight another day.) It’s tough. And failure sucks.

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A good friend of mine, Raymond Luk, is involved with Facebook Weekend in Toronto. It’s a combination BarCamp-style unconference and StartupWeekend. For anyone involved in Facebook development or looking at it for their companies, it’s a good chance to meet the community in Toronto.

From what I’ve heard there will be a good number of experienced entrepreneurs as well, to help companies with their startup plans.

Facebook Weekend is this weekend (starting on Friday) and you can sign-up here: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=5803124517.

I should have gotten this notice out earlier, but such is the life of a crazed entrepreneur.

Freelancers will often tout the benefits of freelancing. Just as much as people working full-time might do the same (It’s true! Some people love their jobs!) Startup entrepreneurs will rant and rave about the benefits of starting companies and working at startups. Assuming we like what we’re doing, we’ll promote it as “the way to go” and happily list numerous reasons to support our argument.

So what are the pros of going freelance?

Freelancers will rattle off a number of them as “accepted truths” - but let’s look at things a bit further.

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One of the biggest challenges for new freelancers is pricing.

Pricing projects isn’t easy. There are plenty of factors that come into play:

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I bookmark endless resources “to be read” at some point in the future. The sad thing is, that future rarely comes. I wish I had more time for reading & sharing some worthwhile resources.

On that note, here are some resources you might enjoy:

1. What are your startup’s philosophies? It’s a good question, and one I’ve wanted to respond to for awhile. I just haven’t had the time to articulate something intelligent enough. So instead, I give Matt Moore a long overdo link and hope that others can pick up the slack!
2. Social Media impacts much more than Marketing. Another post that I’ve wanted to comment on for quite some time. Jeremiah Owyang is right on the money in his asset of social media and how it will percolate through all aspects of your business in the very near future. He doesn’t mention recruiting, where I think the principles of social media have yet to be implemented successfully…
3. 100 Financial Calculators Every Entrepreneur Needs. An exhaustive list of financial tools you can use to help your business. My recommendation for entrepreneurs of any stripe (small business, startups, solopreneurs, freelancers, etc.) is to find a great accountant (the picture on this post is worth the visit!) For that matter, if you can, find a great bookkeeper too. You should always be aware of your financial status; don’t rely blindly on accountants and bookkeepers, but get help.
4. The 100 Best Business Finance Posts of All Time. This ought to keep you busy for the weekend…or two. There are a number of great posts on raising financing. I also found the section on outsourcing and employees interesting.
5. All Entrepreneurs Burnout, It’s Just a Matter of Time. OK, not the most inspiring or fun topic, but an important one nonetheless. Darren Herman provides us with a number of worthwhile resources to counter the burnout effects.
6. Characteristics That Make a Startup a Startup. The shortest post of them all - Chris Conley gets right to the point. What do you think of his points? Do you agree? Disagree? Tell him.

Happy reading!