10 Good Reasons Not to Seek Investors For Your Startup

Sure, maybe you need the money. Maybe that’s what your business plan says. But seriously: Do you really want to have investors involved in your dream startup?

I’ve said it before:bootstrapping is underrated. I get frequent emails from people asking how they can get investment for their new startup, and I’ve admitted to being a member of an angel investor group. But let’s not forget, while we’re thinking about it, these 10 good reasons not to seek investors for your startup.

• It’s almost impossible to get investment for your very first startup. If you don’t have startup experience, get somebody on your team who does. Chris Dixon said it best:either you’ve started a company or you haven’t. And if you haven’t, and nobody in your team has either, that makes it very hard.
• You are selling ownership. Investors write checks to own a serious portion of your business. I admit that’s patently obvious, but you should see the emails I get in which people think of investors as if they were some sort of public agency. Once you get investment, you don’t own your entire company.
• Investors are bosses. You are not your own person when you have investors; you’re part of a team. You can’t decide everything by yourself. Politics matter. Investor relations matter. If you screw up, you do it in front of other people, and it hurts those people.
• Valuation is critical to them and you. Simply put, valuation means the price. If you want to give only 10 percent of your company to investors who pay $100,000, you’re saying your company is worth $1 million. And so on. Simple math, but wow, not so simple negotiation.
• Investors don’t make money until there’s a liquidity event. That’s why we always talk about exit strategies. You can be the world’s happiest, healthiest, most cash-independent company, but your investors won’t be happy until you get them cash back. The win is getting money back out of the company. Some big company stock buyers like dividends. Startup investors don’t.
• If it’s not scalable, forget it. The real growth opportunities are scalable. It used to be products only, but now there are some scalable services, like web services, for example. But if doubling your sales means doubling your headcount (that’s called a body shop), then investors aren’t going to be interested.
• If it’s not defensible, it’s tough going at best. Not that I trust patents as a defense, but trade secrets, momentum, a combination of trade secrets and patents, plus a good intellectual property defense budget … if anybody can do it, then investors aren’t interested. (Of course, what would I know, I thought Starbucks was a bad idea because I thought that was too easy to copy … there are always exceptions.)
• Investors aren’t generic. Some become collaborative partners and even mentors, some are nagging insensitive critics. Some are trojan horses. Some help, some don’t. (Hint: choose carefully which investors you approach.)
• Just getting financed doesn’t mean diddly. You haven’t won the race when you get that check.
• Investors sometimes take your company from you.

Source : Tim Berry, Palo Alto Software | Jul. 28, 2011, 11:45 AM

so, we're at the end of this year,See you again next year with more articles.

Create Documentation Stay Up-to-date with charge management

As is known by everyone who has worked in the IT world, change is an unavoidable. It was only a matter of time "and usually not long" before the significant changes made to the network.

• The server will be upgraded,
• Segment the network increases and / or decreases,
• Procedure changed,
• Employees and offices grow,
• And so on.

The result is a network documentation you created with difficulty will direct unused "except" if you are seriously planning to keep up-to-date. Here are some ways to maintain existing documentation and prevent the documentation of your network is not in vain.

MANAGING CHANGES

The key to ensuring that you keep the documentation up-to-date is the charge management. each IT departments should have a formal charge management system is used to control the network changes regularly. besides it, the charge management must run in earnest, including keeping documents up-to-date. And one or some people should have a job description that includes maintenance of network documentation.

Exact procedures to manage changes is very different depending on the size, environment, and culture of the organization. But usually, the process will begin with the proposed changes, followed by evaluation of proposals, the decision whether to pass the changes, and the implementation of change. The person responsible for maintaining documentation to be involved in the process from the beginning.

How to evaluate proposed changes will also vary from organization to organization. It may involve only a few people, a committee, or even several committees. But in any case, if the proposed changes are approved, the next step is to begin updating the documentation to describe the changes that will be implemented.

Other Considerations

At the time you make changes to the network configuration by moving hardware, usually it is clear that these changes must also be made to the network diagram. However, the charge management should also consider how these changes affect the visible such as policy or procedure.

For example, you might have a procedure to take care of the firewall. If you replace it with a new firewall or install additional firewall, you should review these procedures to see if they can still be used. if not, the procedure should be made again.

Although there is no hardware change, policy and procedures, and your hardware and software standards should be reviewed periodically. Over time, the organization's goals or priorities may change, and you have to apply such changes in policy and procedure.

In addition to evaluating the proposed changes, a review of the document should be a routine part of the charge management  Determine the period of review for each standard, policy, or procedure / year, every two years, and so on. In the documentation itself, you should write down the date and the next review date.

Lastly, do not waste documentation long after you change it. Save the file. Over time, you will have historical reports that show the development of your network. Such information is valuable to someone else in the future who want to know how the network can be like now.

ENDLESS PROCESS

Could complete the creation of the first documentation of course, is a great achievement, but it's just the beginning. You must keep documentation so does not become obsolete. Maintenance documentation should be an integral part of charge management that your documentation is always relevant, accurate, and useful.


This is the last article in the label create network documentation,
see also other articles.

How Information Displays?

After getting all the necessary information, you have to find a way to communicate to others as effectively as possible. True, you can write them in narrative form using a word processor such as Microsoft Word, but it's boring to read.

Like most other technical material, it would be better to present the information (at least partially) in form images. In other cases, information may be better presented in a table, such as the spresdsheet. The point is to communicate as effectively as you can, with whatever tool is needed.

One of the most effective tools for networks present in the form of images is Microsoft Visio, which allows you to directly drag and drop the network components, such as servers and switches, into the picture. To show the process or procedure, you can display information in the form of a flowchart.



read more reviews later on label create network documentation

Where Do You Get Information?

If you are documenting a network that taken care of, then you probably know more about the network than others. Although the information that needs to be documented does not exist in your mind, you certainly know how to look for it.

However, if you are required to document another network, either as a new supervisor or a consultant, you can not rely on your own knowledge. To gather the necessary details, you have to ask all administrators.

Obtaining the necessary information from the administrator may not be easy. For one thing, political factors can hinder your efforts. Maybe the administrators get annoyed with you, see you as an "outsider". Maybe the administrators feel threatened by the making of such documentation or felt it was not necessary. In this case, you need all the skills as diplomats to obtain the necessary information. You have to find a way to overcome these obstacles. Maybe you will be able to make the administrators to see that they are an important part of the manufacturing documentation.

While the administrators want to participate, you may have difficulty communicating with them. Often people will ignore things they can see clearly, but not for others. Or they are very capable of doing their job, but are less able to describe to others. You must be patient and persistent in talking with other administrators, approach from a different direction to get the necessary information. And you may still have to do their own investigation.

If you are accepted as a senior network administrator, and the administrator had not left any information (there are no other employees who know) you have to find the necessary information from the network itself. Follow the cables, see the server configuration and configuration router / switch, and so on

read more reviews later on label create network documentation

Physical access

You also have to make policy for the physical security of the device. Here are examples of questions that must be answered :

• Who allowed get into the room?
• What are the key type, which is used on the door?
• Is access limited to the day or a certain time?
• Did you record the serial number of the device?
• Is there a record of the visit?
• Who reads these notes and when?
• Are you going to use a video camera? if so, who and how many times to change the cassette tape replaced?

read more reviews later on label create network documentation