(This guest post was written by Jennifer A. Klear, Esq., media and technology law attorney)

Great article in the WSJ today about problems start-ups face in selecting names. It discusses the potential for trademark infringement and how some companies have already lost thousands of dollars in disputes over the company name. Here’s a link http://online.wsj.com…

While the article discusses potential risks in choosing a company name it does not discuss how to avoid them. One easy way to avoid possible trademark infringement is by doing a search on the Internet for the name you propose using. If there is already a well-established company with that name, chances are it’s not worth using. On the other hand, if the company is not in your same geographic territory and provides a service or product far different from yours, it is worth exploring further. At this juncture, you may want to perform a trademark search on the US Patent and Trademark Office’s website and/or consider contacting a lawyer. A lawyer can help perform a deeper search of the potential trademark and assist you with trademark registration should you encounter any opposition, which may likely occur.

(This guest post was written by Ken Diamond, entrepreneur and career specialist)

WinTheView™ (WTV™) is a powerful interview preparation and presentation tool that is designed to help job seekers determine the critical hiring requirements and formulate the key points they wish to articulate during the interview.  A PDF file is generated in the form of a flip chart-like presentation that can be printed and taken to the interview. The WTV™ development center is secure and enables the job seeker to prepare multiple presentations, follow-up letters and accomplishment stories with online access 24/7. An example of a sample presentation:

WTV™ Can Be Used In The Following Ways:

1. Focus process and thinking on your most compelling key points so as to enter interview situations prepared and confident.
2. Introduce WTV™ as a professional looking printed qualifications summary during the interview to impress the hiring manager and help guide the discussion your way.
3. Create a lasting impression with a printed or emailed “leave-behind” WinTheView™ summary for each hiring team member.
4. Email a WTV™ PDF file immediately after each phone screen interview to increase your chances of earning that coveted face-to-face interview.
5. Email a WTV™ PDF file in advance of each face-to-face interview to facilitate discussion and demonstrate a proactive mindset.
6. Generate a “career summary” presentation, then link its PDF file on your LinkedIn.com profile via SlideShare, so they can find you.

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(This guest post was written by Barry Hannan, start-up enthusiast)

Senator Dodd’s financial reform bill, which was created to impose heavier regulations on big banks and Wall Street, has now attached language that would bring entrepreneurism, innovation, and angel investing to a screeching halt.

For almost 2 decades Regulation D (Rule 506) has been the most effective and reliable avenue for start-ups to seek and acquire angel financing. The bill that has been presented before legislation will give the SEC power to delay or hold up funding based on their decision (if they get to it) before sending down to the state securities commissions, along with increasing financial expectations on “accredited investors”.

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(This guest post was written by Ryan Bukoski, start-up enthusiast)

Everyone knows the age old question, “If a tree falls in the forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?” A similar question could be asked regarding startups: “If a startup has an outstanding product, but no one has been made aware of its existence, is it really that great a product?” No matter how amazing your product offering may be, if you’re not taking the necessary steps to market it, then it will never see the light of day, and you’ll be nothing more than any other run-of-the-mill schlub with an idea. So network you must!

In today’s social media focused, locally-centric driven environment, it is simply unacceptable to not be networking with other like-minded individuals, both in your field and in your surrounding neighborhoods. People are talking, and it’s up to you to include yourself in the conversation. It gives you the ability to get your name and your company to be heard, and it allows you to incorporate your two cents, which you can use to steer the conversation towards piquing the interest of others to ascertain what you can bring to the table.

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(This guest post was written by Ryan Bukoski, start-up enthusiast)

Like many people I’m sure, I was brought up and taught the ideologies that nothing comes easy and if you want something badly enough, you’ve got to go out and get it yourself through a combination of a strong work ethic and an even stronger desire to achieve the goal you’ve set for yourself.  The benefits/results are two-fold; first is the feeling of self-accomplishment in knowing that you gave your all and were successful with your endeavor.  The second isn’t necessarily as cut and dry, and it’s the impression you leave with those around you.  In other words, if you bust your hump, whether you realize it or not, it won’t go unnoticed to those around you.

Fast forward to my first job, starting at the bottom of the totem pole for a start-up.  In an office of less than twenty people, I knew everyone and everyone knew me by the end of my first week, mostly from hand delivering their lunches to each of their desks.  This intimate setting was perfect; everyone knew the roles of one another, and more importantly, everyone held each other accountable for their workload, and if you screwed up, you were sure to hear about it.  Conversely, if you did your job correctly, efficiently, and most of all, exceptionally, you would seldom hear your name.  This seems like no big deal, but it’s something that C-level executives within earshot surely notice in a start-up office, however subtle it may come across over the span of weeks and months to everyone else.

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(This guest post was written by Patrick Iselin, sales strategist)

That’s right, I said it.

Few would agree right off the bat – but I still maintain that it is the truth.  The more somebody is micromanaged, the less accountability they have, the less pressure to perform.  They also no longer need to think for themselves once their manager is making every  decision for them.  People are fundamentally lazy and thus they get comfortable, or even worse complacent.  So what starts off as an annoyance to the employee (while the manager is asserting himself), soon develops into a sort of Pavlovian response whereby when decisions are required they need not use their own initiative but instead simply wander into the manager’s office and ask what to do.

Micromanaging starts you on a vicious cycle resulting in a grinding halt to productivity, and here is why.

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(This guest post was written by Rick O’Brien, serial entrepreneur and President of SemperCon):

As co-founder and CEO of early wireless internet application company Airput, I learned the hard way that it’s important to be as capital efficient as possible with your limited development funds.  Airput successfully raised money from several local VCs based on the initial success of our mobile applications and we then hired aggressively to expedite application development to meet critical market windows.  The problem was that the large overhead of our development team could not be supported by current sales.  When the internet bubble burst, we had spent our initial funding and found it impossible to raise additional capital to sustain operations.

Later while running the Product Development Group at iBiquity Digital, I started using a blend of in-house and outside development resources which allowed me to stretch my budget and also gave me the flexibility necessary to ramp development to hit critical deadlines.  The success I found using this cost-effective mix of development resources was the impetus for me to launch SemperCon and try to help other companies better leverage their precious development dollars.

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